I'm super curious if any viewers have run one of those "Cursed Scroll Hex Crawls" right from level 1, and how it went?  My future self thanks you!

Naish member here!  I highly recommend the Glass Cannon Podcast, if you’re looking for an actual play to listen to.  Their original campaign is epic.

I've been running a Shadowdark campaign for my group for about 2 years with no complaints. We all love the world we've created within the structure of the games rules.

Yes to the Glass Cannon!! They are hilarious and role play well

I think it makes sense to frame your progression not around your specific character, but around a cause that your character has. Either the party or the character specifically has some grand campaign goal they're striving towards, and this way, if a character has to be removed from play for some reason, there is ample opportunity for a new character to step in in continuation of this goal.

Something that I realized about the 10-level cap in Shadowdark is that it aligns with strongholds as the end game. AD&D was oddly ambiguous about the end game, because on the one hand it had strongholds available at levels 8-11, but then the level charts went much higher, and they included attractive incentives (e.g., high-level spells) to just keep on adventuring. And the keep-on-adventuring play style carried the day into later editions. Shadowdark lets adventuring wrap up right around when we’d expect PCs to make strongholds.

I see ShadowDark as embracing the adventure being procedural, with scattered dungeons, NPCs and encounters.  Reading the Cursed Scrolls, I was hyped to run games in that "get out and survive" style because the worlds players had to explore are so rich and full of plot threads.

This is my favorite Shadowdark channel. Appreciate you uploading videos consistently.

I love your channel man. Videos are simple and to the point but have plenty of depth of conversation. Keep it up, dude

Great video. Love the breakdown of classic campaign structure.
I've never understood the argument that any game is not right for long term play, especially one that has levels 😆
First time encountering your channel. Instant sub!

Running a campaign the past year and it’s working great and having a blast

I cannot get enough of your videos! We are probably about the same age, with a similar gaming history… I look forward to each new video, and have re-watched multiple times!

I ran 5e for years, at home and with a middle school gaming club. The “cognitive load” that you have described on multiple occasions, along with the game & combat loops, made 5e very unwieldy in short sessions with kids (~90 min)… I first switched to OSE, which simplified that great deal. But then I made the move to SD, and I provide each kid their own copy of the QS rules - OMG! So much more gets done in 90 minutes! I can attest to being able to run an actual campaign in SD - this year is my 3rd iteration with middle schoolers. That said, I mostly run a West Marches style campaign, which may influence my opinion?

I think you first hit on the big difference in your ‘what I learned playing for one year’ video. Considering the mindset of somebody coming from 5e or another modern RPG to SD, which is so stripped down and open ended rules-wise, these players possibly think things like “its not built for running campaigns”. They are probably used to deep player backgrounds and story arcs, along with full, published adventure paths. People coming from more  OSR gaming backgrounds don’t see any issue likely, but sometimes bounce off of some of the other modern amenities, like advantage and disadvantage, luck, and the death timer. Their issue is more detail-oriented/mechanical rather than the big picture, like long-term campaign efficacy.

YES I was hoping you would mention The Glass Cannon! They are excellent and I can't recommend them enough. They have enormous amounts of content, both free and paid. 💖

We did the opposite of doing a hex crawl. We created our own city as a group. With tons of details. We played for 18 months every Monday night. Everg adventure was in the city and the sewers below. Our 1st campaign ended last week and we started a new one in a different city this week.

While I have never used any of the cursed scrolls zines, I have been starting my players off with overland adventures from original D&D onwards —including Shadowdark now. I think the idea came from the literature I read. The Hobbit didn’t start things off in the dragon’s lair, our heroes had many adventures traveling there first.

Great work man, thoughtful and dense with ideas.

Glad to subscribe.

Great video. I am in the midst of running a shadowdark campaign actually. I have an overarching narrative, but really the campaign is evolving based on how the players are interacting with my story. It’s quite fun.

New subscriber here. I'm 48 and was introduced to D&D by a couple of friends in the 80s. I've been playing off and on for years. Given the demanding lifestyle I have with a family and my small business. It was hard for me to find time for the hobby I so love. That is until a video popped up in my news feed.

Play TTRPGs Solo.

I immediately began to consume the videos of this new found style of play.

I went from GM Emulators, to Starforge and then finally Shadowdark.

I just want to say Shadowdark is a very special game. It creates boundaries to the game without hindering imagination. In fact I would say it fuels imagination and the possibilities of what can be. Another channel I watch the gentleman created a binder approach which in my eyes was brilliant. I'm just getting ready to start my first campaign. I will be going in a wilderness approach. Holding nothing back and letting my players live and learn.

I want to say thank you for your videos. Your input on this wonderful hobby is very appreciated.

I heard the opening of this and was like "wut?"  Why not?  Also define "long campaign"?  I agree with your final assessment.  Modern table top has stopped being about adventure and world building, or even telling a story.  It has become about "the party" and how the game is only about pushing "the parties" story.  All world building is only done to feed into the parties story, when the party is removed the world basically does not exist.  Modern players who have never played a game that was not about them do not understand on a fundamental level what OSR, ADnD, or Shadowdark are about from a campaign perspective.

The campaign I am well into for my group started out as Horror on the Hill (3.5), then onto Dragons of Icespire Peak (3.5), next stop was Tyranny Of Dragons (3.5)....then into the Pits of Brund (Shadowdark) and shortly moving into Righteous Vow - Vol. 3 (Shadowdark)....players love it.  As for the Glass Cannon Network - their Shadowdark adventure is great.  Another campaign you can follow would be Mike Shea of the Lazy DM who ran a Gloaming campaign for a year...I think I'm sticking with Shadowdark...keep an eye out for the material Chubby Funster puts out too....